The Worshipful Company of Jewelers and Goldsmiths
Fine jewelry, watches, eletech components, luxury precious metal items
The Worshipful Company of Jewelers and Goldsmiths, known commonly as the Goldsmith’s Company, covers all crafts and administration related to the creation of fine jewelry, watches, eletech components, and other finely made luxury goods made of highly precious metals. Master smiths also work with other magical metals, such as mithril.
Structure
Guildmaster
The current guildmaster of the Goldsmith’s company is a female halfling jeweler named Matilda Haynes. Matilda is a former adventurer that found a large cache of gems, coins, and jewelry in her youth and got involved with the guild when she tried to sell it. She used those funds to purchase her apprenticeship, and quickly became renowned for her skill with delicate jeweler’s tools and her ability to determine how fine mechanical pieces worked from just a few glances.
Guild Representative
The Goldsmith’s representative is male human Lord Liam Wren, youngest son of Duke Gregory Wren. Lord Liam uses his connections with the rich and influential members of Eisen to provide a constant supply of precious metals and gemstones to the Goldsmiths. Lord Liam also has connections to ensure that there is a constant supply of customers among the wealthy and elite. Among the guild, Lord Liam is a Master at appraising gemstones and making sure that metals meet purity standards.
Guild Administrator
The Goldsmith’s Administrator is Lady Esmerelda Idlewild. Lady Idlewild’s family is in vassalage to House Osterlind, and she keeps explicit and detailed records for the guild. Lady Idlewild is a strict authoritarian that always double-checks the books down to the copper, and she has been known to bring the full weight of the guild’s influence on Goldsmiths that are caught embezzling. Lady Idlewild is also a Master within the Banking and Moneylender’s Guild, and makes sure that the Goldsmith’s books are just as careful as those in that guild.
Guild Structure and Ranks
Apprentice: Admission into the Worshipful Company of Jewelry and Goldsmiths is not given lightly to anyone. Even a few drops or scrap from a project can be sold to the right person as raw materials. Each apprentice goes through a thorough background check, interview under Zone of Truth, and is subjected to an ethics evaluation. Should they pass this battery of tests, apprentices are entrusted with and taught the skills necessary to craft and appraise the fine items that make up watches, jewelry, and some eletech components. Apprentices are taught how to work with cheaper materials like copper, nickel, tin, and alloys like bronze and brass. Their work, should it be up to guild standards, can then be sold for commission, providing apprentices with a source of funds that will be useful when it comes time to start their own trade. An apprentice will typically spend 4-5 years before advancing to journeyer. Journeyer: Once an apprentice within the Goldsmiths has developed the necessary skills to make fine items from lesser metals, they are allowed to work with more expensive silver, gold, electrum, and platinum. It’s also at this stage that a journeyer may decide to focus on administration, acquisitions, or appraisal of pieces. Importantly, it’s also at this stage that a journeyer is taught to safely appraise magical jewelry, such as rings or brooches, though they will not be instructed in how to craft them until they reach Master. Many Goldsmith journeyers never continue on to become masters, and will instead open their own local businesses. The Goldsmiths use their connection with the larger guild to procure metals and jewels that meet guild standards. Those journeyers that open their own local businesses under the eye of the guild are expected to hold to a high standard of quality and material, and will police their own with complaints to the guild if that standard is not being met. Master: A Master Goldsmith has access to the secrets of working with magical and exotic metals like celestial bronze, ignan brass, mithril, moonsilver, orichalcum, and quicksilver. These magical and exotic metals become the basis for many magical items and advanced eletech devices. Mastery Exam: A journeyer’s test for mastery is intended to show mastery over the specific specialization in the guild. Typical tests for a crafter include five pieces that must meet a Master’s standards, whether that’s a watch, piece of jewelry, or cut of gemstone. Other tests may include specific items that are particularly difficult to appraise, or uncommon alloys. As part of the Mastery exam, journeyers are expected to be able to find and identify pieces of cursed jewelry without becoming a victim to the piece.Culture
The Worshipful Company of Jewelers and Goldsmiths is both strict and competitive, and guild standards are paramount. The current guildmaster is trying to change that culture, given her duties, and much of her time is spent managing disputes. Many members of the guild have outside ties with nobility or wealthy merchants, and those ties can be key in advancing within the guild itself, or easing their way through some of the tests and checks. That doesn’t mean that people are held to any less of a standard, but that sometimes the tests are used to make it more difficult for some people within the guild.
Patron God: Akmon
Guild Symbols
Within the Goldsmiths, apprentices wear a plain silver band, engraved with the crest of the guild on their left hand or on a chain around their neck. A journeyer adds a golden ring, studded with gemstones of their specialization, and set into a specific pattern that tells a story of who they studied under and where. The ring is expected to be modified as a journeyer studies, each Master earning their own slightly different pattern. For older journeyers who have studied under multiple Masters, this can lead to owning multiple golden rings. A Master Goldsmith adds a ring of mithril upon gaining their mastery and another for each magical metal that they learn to use. A Master will often have these enchanted and studded with their own pattern.Guild House Description
The Goldsmiths guildhouse is a wealthy-looking building in the upper-class commercial district, and a dubious amount of money has been spent to make the inside luxurious. In addition to rooms set aside for members traveling through, there is also a bar where members are expected to socialize and drink with other members, as well as private meeting rooms to discuss and dicker over guild business. Deep within the walls of the guild house is the guild vault where raw materials are kept. Only masters have direct access to the vault.Public Agenda
The Worshipful Company of Jewelers and Goldsmiths provides all of the crown jewels for the nobility of Eisen.
The Goldsmiths set the standard price for the appraisal of any jewelry or loose gemstones, including items that are found ‘in the wild’. It’s this standard that’s referenced for spell components, though individual Goldsmiths are allowed to sell at a markup or discount.
The Goldsmith’s Company provides the pins for all the other guilds in Eisen, at cost, through contract with the guild representatives. These pins, whether copper, silver, or gold, are made by the Company for use as practice pieces. Only the best pieces ever leave the forges of the guild, but by the time a Goldsmith journeyer is ready to take their Master’s test, they will have created hundreds of them and know them all by heart.
Assets
The Goldsmiths Company has a store of magical rings and jewelry that they use as examples and appraisal pieces for other members to copy. These magical items are kept in the guild vault under lock and key, and are only accessible to Masters. These items are not typically loaned.
History
The Worshipful Company of Jewelers and Goldsmiths used to manage the banking and money lending of Eisen before the Association of Banking and Moneylenders guild split off to form their own guild. Since then, they have maintained close ties with that guild, and many of members of the Worshipful Company of Jewelers and Goldsmiths also have at least an apprenticeship rank in that guild.
Type
Guild, Craftsmen
Alternative Names
Goldsmith's Guild
Demonym
Goldsmith, Jeweler
Location
Akmon Guild Symbols
Ring with Guild Crest